Fate's Calling
by H0rizons
Summary: They praised my parents as heroes. I never wanted heroes. I just wanted my mother and father back. I'll never let that happen again. (An AU story about Gerome returning to the past farther than that of the other children where he meets and interacts with some characters that'll change the course of the future.)
1. Memories

"Now remember to be good and take care of the house while your father and I are gone, alright?" asked a sweet voice from above Gerome's head as the young boy yawned sleepily, clinging to his mother's leg, "And don't forget to clean the stables everyday just like I taught you~"

Looking up from the floor, Gerome nodded and rubbed his eyes before leaning his forehead on his mother's hip. "Will you be back before sundown?" he asked quietly, hoping her answer would be yes..

"No... not this time," she replied with a bit of reluctance as she sifted through a small knapsack she had placed upon the kitchen table, "Have you said goodbye to Father? You do know he's leaving earlier than I and won't be returning for quite some time."

Gerome nodded in response to her question before looking up at her, his eyes filled with wistful longing. Cherche sighed as she couldn't help but stop what she was doing to look back down at Gerome. Smiling she placed her hand atop is head and rubbed it soothingly.

"Everything will be okay, Gerome," she said with confidence, "I'll be back before you know it, okay?"

"Okay...," he said as he finally let go of Cherche and backed away from her, his eyes now firm, "I'll make sure everything is ready for your return Mother."

"That's my boy," rumbled Gerome's father from behind him as he placed a firm hand upon the boys head and ruffled his hair, "Don't worry about a thing, you here? You just worry about making sure we have a proper dinner when we get back! Now why don't you go say goodbye to Minervykins outside? I need to talk to your mother real quick, okay?"

"Mmmm okay father!" said Gerome as his eyes now lit up at the mentioning of the family's wyvern, Minerva. With that he turned and ran for the door, excited to get to spend some time with Minerva. Upon opening the door outside he found Minerva lying on the ground already prepped for travel.

"Minervykins!" smiled Gerome as he ran up and hugged the wyvern's head, which was promptly responded with a snort of hot air to Gerome's face. Laughing he fell on the ground as the wyvern bared its fangs in his face.

"The Risen have spread farther than we have anticipated," said Gerome's father as he turned to Cherche with a grim look, "As we speak there is an army on the march to overtake Rosanne once more and progress eastward to Ylisse."

"But Virion and the citizens," exclaimed Cherche, her eyes widening, "We must hurry. Have the others prepared already?"

"Yes, I was told that the Shepherds along with the Ferox are already on their way to aid Rosanne as well as the rest of Valm."

"Alright, then let's go. We must depart now then," said Cherche as she rushed out the door to stop Gerome, "Gerome dear your father and must depart right away."

"Hmmmm?" smiled Gerome as he slid off of Minerva's neck to look at his mother with a confused face, "But why the sudden rush, Mother?"

"Something's happened dear," she said as she quickly strapped on her equipment and bags to Minerva before kneeling before Gerome, "As you know, your father and I are very important people. We have to go help out people in need, okay?"

Gerome furrowed his brow, a bit worried and confused but he nodded nevertheless and forced a confident smile. Smiling back, Cherche held out her arms

"Now come here my little wyvern rider, why don't you give me a hug before I go."

Looking up at his Mother, Gerome sighed before stepping forward into her embrace, nuzzling his head into her neck and enjoying her warmth.

"Are you sure you can't stay?," murmured Gerome in one last attempt as he held onto Cherche tightly, feeling himself start to cry lightly

"No... I must go," replied Cherche with a pang of pain in her voice before kissing Gerome on the forehead and squeezing him tightly "You'll understand someday though Gerome. What your Father and I are doing is very important..."

"Okay..."

"Ahem... Cherche, it's time to leave," came the deep voice of Gerome's father as he sat on his horse behind them, waiting patiently.

"Alright love," replied Cherche as she reluctantly pulled away from Gerome and stood up straight to mount Minerva, "Alright Gerome... we'll be back... I promise. Keep the house safe for us alright?"

"Of course Mother, Father," said Gerome as he stood up straighter at the responsibility given to him and wiped away the tears, "I won't let you down."

"Hehe that's my Gerome," said Cherche with a smile of pride before turning forward to Minerva and whispering something to the wyvern in which Minerva simply snorted more hot air in response.

"Okay, love, let's go," said Cherche turning to her husband with one last glance at Gerome.

And with those last words, Minerva extended her wings and flapped once to take off, creating a gust of wind that made Gerome stagger a bit and look away due to the dust. Once his eyes readjusted, Minerva along with his mother and father were already along their way down the beaten path that led to town, leaving their young son standing in the dust, left behind to the loneliness before him. Gerome waved in an attempt to give one last goodbye, but no response was given so after a few seconds he gave up and turned to face the house.

"Well... I guess this house won't clean itself," he said with mock confidence

* * *

"..."

"Just a dream..."

Gerome opened his eyes to come face to face with Minerva's snout. He stared at it for a moment before she snorted in his face. Sighing Gerome glanced at his surroundings to see that nothing had changed. He was still leaning against the tree he'd found last night to sleep on and Minerva had slept close to him all night. Along with that he was still stuck in the past. Sitting up, Gerome reached for the axe he'd brought with him and used it as a crutch to stand up.

"Agghh..." he sighed as he stretched out his back, "Next time let's choose a better place to sleep Minerva, alright?"

The wyvern simply shook its head and gazed out into the distance. Gerome's eyes followed her gaze to see a small caravan of people passing by. Curious.

"Merchants?" he asked himself as he strolled to Minerva and began to strap on the saddle. All the while he kept his eyes on the caravan, making sure they didn't notice him.

"The last thing we want is to be messing with this past and future business, Minerva," he said finishing up the straps, "I'm only here to set your past self free before-"

A piercing scream hit Gerome's ears at that moment, cutting him off from what he was saying and making him look more closely at the caravan.

"Bandits then," he said grimly as he mounted Minerva, "We should leave them be. Their fate is as sealed as ours..."

Minerva snorted in protest and shook her body at his comment, making Gerome lose his balance for a moment.

"What?! Stop that Mineva," he demanded as he continued to stare, "It's not like we can do anything about this... I only came back under Lucina's request. Her playing with the hands of fate is not to my taste you know. I do not believe our actions today can make a difference at all... for destiny calls us along a path we have no choice but to follow."

* * *

**Errrr Been awhile since I've written anything. Constructive criticism would be nice as well as if I miss anything in regards to the canon locations or people or small details please let me know so I can fix it. Thanks and more chapters on the way, will be updated periodically.**


	2. Escape

"Keep it moving you damned maggots," grumbled a bandit as he shoved along the line of women they'd recently captured from the nearby village, "Tsk... they better be worth the amount of gold we've been told they're worth."

"OH they will be," cackled the lead bandit as he turned around, stopping the caravan, "You'd be surprised how much women like this would sell for. It's no surprise with all these soldiers needing some _relaxation_ during times of war! Ahahah!"

He hopped off his horse and strolled along the line of women, each hand tied in a single line. The bandit's sword swinging by his side as he walked along the bruised and weary row of women.

"Ehehe especially fine broads like this one here!" He exclaimed as he grabbed one of the women by the head and dragged her out of line, making the other women stumble and fall after her, "See the curves on this one? Beautiful dontcha say boys? Just how we like it!"

He spat on the woman and grinned as she yelped at the spit, being unable to wipe it off of her. Murmurs of agreement came slowly from all the bandits as they eyed her up however and no other questions were asked.

"Now shut yer yaps and lets get a move on. Don't wanna dawdle, we're wasting money!" Barked the lead after a few moments as he turned to mount his horse, but before doing so he shoved the woman back into line, making the whole line sway to one side again with more of the girls falling over.

"Yessir," grumbled all the bandits in broken unison at his command as they shoved along the women. And with that the caravan began to move forward slowly once more, unaware of the fact that someone watching. Well... mostly unaware...

The caravan rolled along with little speech for awhile after that. Any sound heard from the girls was immediately met with a whipping to the back or a rough shove from the bandits as well as any fault in pacing was met with an immediate beating. Only a few hours had passed since the little pep talk from the bandit leader, yet nearly half of the girls were severely bruised and bloody from all the abuse.

"Aye, stop ya crying!" yelled one of the bandits as one of the girls began to sob and move slower than the rest. In anger he moved up to her and shoved her forward into the girl in front of her, knocking both of them down.

"Get up you dogs," he continued as he got up to the crying girl and grabbed her long pink hair, pulling her up to her feet with it. The girl cried out in pain at the rough tug, but quickly ceased her tears as a sword was put up to her throat.

"Oye, what happened to that pretty lil voice of yours?" cackled the bandit as he rubbed the edge of the blade along her neck, "Heh... but you're quite the looker now aren't ya."

His eyes wandered down to her frame now and he smiled as his gaze fell upon her chest.

"Well well well what do we have here. You're in the ripe age for some picking!" he murmured as his sword's tip turn to graze down the skin of her neck, cutting slightly into her skin, "But... it would be a shame if my sword were to slip and cut the fruit before it's ready..."

"P-please, sir... no don't do that, I beg of you..." she finally managed as her breathing quickened at the sharp pain of the sword etching itself into her tender skin.

"Ehhh?! And why not!?" he barked as his eyes flared and his sword quickly pressed up against her throat once more. He glared at her unflinchingly until the sudden tug of the rope at her hands and the protests of the other bandits reminded him of where he was.

"Pft," he spat on her as he relinquished his sword and shoved her back in line, "Keeping going then you bitch."

Breathing heavy with her hair in a knotted mess, the girl stumbled back in line and winced in pain as she felt bits of blood trickle down her chest due to the swords slight cuts.

"Hey..." whispered a voice from behind the girl after a few minutes, which made her glance back to see another girl forcing a smile at her, "You okay?"

"..."

"Not much of a talker then I guess," she continued in a hushed voice, "Well... if you need anything... my name's Sarah..."

"...Diana," replied the pink haired girl with one last glance at Sarah before turning to face forward out of fear of the bandits noticing them speak, but not without seeing a dark shadow in the distance that seemed to stand out above the rest of the landscape. Diana did a double take as she peered at the shadow, but almost as soon as she'd noticed it, it was gone.

* * *

"Now Owain!" ordered Lucina as she slid across the ground, narrowly dodging a blade sweeping over her head, "It's now or never!"

"Sword hand, don't fail me now! For I shall thrust vengeance upon-"

"Cut the crap Owain!" yelled Severa as she parried another sword strike from the Risen surrounding the group, "Do it NOW!"

"Alright alright," he grumbled as he pushed past Kjelle and struck down two swordsman with a quick lunge followed by a slash across the neck, "Clear! Push forward!"

"Got it!" yelled Inigo and Yarne as they pushed past Owain deeper into the horde of Risen with Lucina and Severa bringing up the rear.

Hacking and slashing, the group of six slowly made their way to the Outrealm Gate with the hordes of Risen closing in, their only hope of escape lay in them making it through the gate into the past in order to change the future. All the while hordes of Risen closed upon them in an attempt to stop their progress and seal a dark future for Grima.

"There is no way we're making it out of here!" yelled Severa as she rolled forward to dodge a sweep of a lance from some mounted Risen before parrying another strike for a sword, "This is suicide Lucina!"

"No we'll make it! For the sake of our parents and our future we must!" replied Lucina as she slashed through another pair of Risen and shoved Inigo to the side, making the lance heading straight for his back miss by mere inches.

"Thank you my fair lady," exclaimed Inigo in surprise as he parried yet another strike aim for his neck, "But on the topic of fair women, where's Cynthia? Along with Gerome and the others?!"

"Save the sweet talk for lat-"

"Sword hand! Summon forth this blade's power!" yelled Owain as he slashed another Risen in half, cutting off Lucina and continuing the push onwards, "Forward my fellow allies! Heed not the call of death and strike deep into the hearts of the enemy!"

"Shut up Owain, now is not the time to be-"

"Look! It's Gerome and Cynthia along with Laurent and Noire!" called out Severa suddenly as she paused briefly to point in the sky, making all their heads turn to see two black dots flying towards them, unaware of the streams of Risen archers prepped to fire at them.

"Oh no..." whispered Lucina as she glanced in the direction of where they were heading, "Quickly! Inigo, Severa! Push out the ride side of the Risen line! They have archers amongst them! With the archers in place, they'll be shot down immediately!"

Two quick nods were given as the fight resumed with even more ferocity, knowing that they were so close to their goal.

* * *

"Prepare for impact!" yelled Gerome as he leaned forward on Minerva, Noire clinging to his back in utter fear, her bow in one hand and her eyes sealed tight. Out of the corner of his eyes, Cynthia was flying next to him with Laurent on her pegasus as well.

"What an entrance, right?!" yelled Cynthia with glee to Laurent as he held onto his hat in desperation, "Father would be so proud of-"

"Look out!" called Laurent as a sudden wave of magic and arrows came flying from the ground where they'd spotted the rest of their companions, "Incoming!"

"Got it!" called out Cynthia as her happy attitude was replaced with one of seriousness as her, along with her pegasus, barrel rolled to the right and left to avoid the volleys of incoming projectiles. Gerome followed suite with Noire still clinging to him for dear life. The volleys continued for a few for more moments before ceasing completely, allowing for the two to land.

"Thank the gods they did it, they stopped the ranged Risen," said Gerome to himself as he landed Minerva on the ground with a smash, crushing several Risen upon landing. A little bit farther down, Cynthia landed near the other children and Laurent hopped off, already firing off spells into the waves of Risen.

"Alright rides over Noire, get your bow and get off before we get overwhelmed. Minerva and I don't fight well on the ground," said Gerome as he swung his axe at nearby Risen in unison with Minerva who was snapping and hissing at the Risen surrounding them.

"About time you got here!" boomed a voice as suddenly a cluster of Risen collapsed forward onto the ground and the rough body of Kjelle showed herself, sweating and bleeding from her forehead, "Come on! One last push before we get to the portal! I'll keep you save as we regroup Noire!"

Noire, who had just opened her eyes, nodded at Kjelle before stumbling off, bow in hand. With a curt nod to both of them, Gerome patted Minerva's neck, signalling her to launch with a gust of wind which knocked over several more Risen. Leaving Kjelle and Noire to slowly knock down and kill the Risen advancing to replace the ones killed by Gerome.

"Good girl," said Gerome as he swung his axe at the Risen jumping up to get a hold of the wyvern, "Now let's show Cherche how much we've learned from her."

At the mentioning of her former rider's name, Minerva let out a piercing roar and began flying through the hoards of Risen, slowly clearing a path for the others to follow.

"Alright, let's go everyone!" yelled Gerome as he waved his axe for everyone to regroup on him before he turned back to slashing at the Risen below. Within minutes all of the kids had formed up and were now mere meters away from the gate when suddenly a dark figure flew above the portal and landed right in front of them, letting out a tremendous roar.

"You have got to be kidding me," gaped Owain as he stepped back a bit, his sword shaking slightly in his hand which was now red with his blood, "No one mentioned Risen dragons! How can this be!?"

"They must've been summoned as a last form of defense in case anyone were to attempt this," muttered Lucina as she raised her Falchion up in preparation for the oncoming fight.

"So what do we do now Lucina!," said Kjelle as she shoved off some more Risen, "We've got Risen behind us and Risen in front of us."

"Tsk... I... We must keep fighting," said Lucina as she took a step back once the dragon took a large step towards the group, "That portal is our only hope to leading normal lives!

"That's right! Ahaha!" rang a voice from above as a flash of light shone from amongst the hordes of Risen and with moments a tremendous roar rang across the battlefield, making the group cringe and hold their ears. Then, out of nowhere, another dragon came barreling towards the Risen dragon and knocked it off the cliff and to everyone's surprise, Brady was atop the dragon.

"Everyone hurry!" he called out as he slid off of the dragon who turned to face the crowds of Risen and blast them with flames of light, "Nah will hold them off as we enter the portal. Go!"

"Alright everyone let's go!" called Lucina as she waved her hand in the direction of the portal and started off in a sprint towards it, "Thank the gods you came Nah and Brady..."

Followed closely by Owain, Inigo, Laurent, Cynthia, Noire, Kjelle, Severa, and Yarne, Lucina made for the portal and quickly jumped into it, disappearing in flashes of light one by one.

"Alright yer the last one Gerome!" called out Brady as he stood at the foot of the portal with Nah who'd expended all of the dragonstone's power and was now panting and leaning against him, "I'll see you on the other side!"

Gerome and Minerva watched as the last duo jumped into the portal before directing her towards it, arrows and spells whizzing past them.

"This is it Minerva, the others will be fine... We have other goals to attend to when we make it through however," he said as they dove into the portal, unsure of what lay ahead of them, but knowing that the Risen were behind them.

* * *

**Another chapter quickly executed. If you have any questions please ask! And again constructive criticism and reviews are greatly appreciated! Along with the fact that if you spot any mistakes, please let me know.**


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